Upcoming Summer Anime Preview!

Summer is almost here, and that means a ton of new animes will be coming out! Here are my selections for what to watch this summer, and why!

There isn't much information about this series out, and I haven't read the manga yet, but what I do know is that the plot revolves around a group of newly hired office workers in the Health and Wellness department of their office in Hokkaido.

This appears at first glance to likely be a slice of life/sitcom, which in anime is usually geared towards young females, but I think this one has appeal for a broader audience. Action and Fantasy is great, but sometimes it's nice to just relax and watch something realistic, believable, and relatable. After all, not all of us have slayed dragons or fallen in love with a deity or have ridiculously superhuman strength.

Also, it's based upon a manga published by Square-Enix. Also published by Square-Enix: Soul Eater and Full Metal Alchemist.

PRIORITY: Mid

For those interested, Yen Press has made the Manga available in North America. Blood Lad is best described as Twilight meets Soul Eater meets Little Mermaid. It's about a Vampire (Chaz) who lives in the underworld, but is obsessed with the human world, especially treasuring his manga and anime collection, and wants nothing more than to visit it. He meets a young girl (Fuyumi) who accidentally by chance finds herself in the underworld. As Chaz is getting to know her, she suddenly is killed and becomes a ghost. He promises to protect her and find a way to make her human again, so that he might visit the human world.

Also, love triangles abound.

If you're not into anime, then I could see how your first impression might make you think Twilight, what with the dynamics of Fuyumi and her relationships with her vampire bodyguard, and the wolf who falls in love with her. But I do see some comic potential in this. I've read a little bit of the manga, and my honest first impression was a gender-backwards Little Mermaid. Where, there's a guy obsessed with the human world where he can never live, and so he ends up building a collection of all these human world items. I just hope there's no singing.

PRIORITY: Low

Because every anime season needs some wincest.

Ema Hinata's father remarries a successful apparel designer, and doesn't want to interfere with their relationship, so she moves in with her 11 new step-brothers. As she is the only female in the household, romance begins to bloom.

Okay, I'll just say these things: Firstly, love between step-siblings isn't as taboo in Japan as it is here, and secondly, this may sound like another KissxSis but I don't think it is.

I'm going to take a look at the manga before this comes out, but the art seems interestingly shoujo, appealing to a female audience. Which means this may have the odd crude joke, but will likely use actual romance as the driving factor in the plot. So, if my presumption is correct, don't expect very much ecchi in this series. Expect a series of heartwarming tales and trials of love triangles about a subject matter often considered taboo to a Western audience.

PRIORITY: Mid

Try saying that five times. Not even five times fast, just saying it five times. This will be the major Horror entry for the Summer. This is pretty much Survivor meets Mirai Nikki. This is the one I am most curious about, as Google Search LITERALLY has NO results. What I do know is that it is based on a video game, and likely will be violent.

The premise surrounds a group of students locked in a school, each one with a different very unique talent. No participant may leave the school until they can commit a murder and not get caught, whenever a murder occurs, the students hold a trial to attempt to determine if their suspect is innocent or guilty.

I know, I can't figure out how it's done either, but hey. If I could read Japanese, I'd play the game and tell you all.

PRIORITY: High

That's right, the long awaited reboot of the franchise that made anime a household word in North America is getting a reboot to celebrate it's 20th anniversary.

Rumor has it this is not a "new story arc" but a total reboot of the franchise, going back to the original story, about a high school girl who meets a talking cat that tells her she is destined to save the world, along with her Sailor Scouts and the help of Tuxedo Mask.

This was announced last May, I believe, and had fangirls everywhere squealing. A note to audiences who grew up with this series, note that because of localization efforts in North America, the series you watched was very different than the series in Japan. Names were changed, the series was heavily edited because of violence and some skirt lengths deemed unsafe for children. The series was even further edited by two minutes per episode to make room for the "Sailor Moon Says..." segment, which was not part of the original Japanese broadcast. If this is indeed a reboot, expect it to be much closer to the source material.

PRIORITY: OMGIWANTTHISSOBADLYICANTWAIT! (Very High)

I may watch these shows too if my schedule allows it, and they can hold my interest long enough.

Kin-Iro Mosaic

A young girl who moved back to Japan from England gets a letter from the girl she was living with stating she's moving to Japan.

Love Lab

A story about an elite girls' school where almost every female archetype seems to study.

Fantastia Dolls

A group of girls called "Dolls" fight evil using magical cards. Sounds like Yu-Gi-Oh meets Sailor Moon.

Rozen Maiden

A NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) accidentally orders a doll that comes to life when he winds her, and slowly develops a friendship and copes with his fears that keep him from returning to school.

The editor of the Sailor Moon Manga announced this weekend that the new Sailor Moon series is being pushed back, possibly as late as 2015. It will not be released this year. Terribly sorry. I'll likely move one of my honorable mentions to that position instead, when I get the chance.